Mending the Sea Prince
by OneTrueWarrior
Summary: Percy is sent back to Camp HalfBlood by his mother because he is lacking in the social department. His friends are happy to have their hero back, but his friends also notice something different about him. Even with the new changes like nightmares and a lack of bubbly personality, his friends still notice something needs fixing. Can they solve the problem?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I'm sorry if the story hasn't been legible. My fanfiction account has been freaking out, but I will manage to get this story posted. Enjoy the first chapter! The next update will be on Tuesday!**

Percy was broken. While everyone else had found a sense of peace, Percy wandered with a broken heart, a broken mind, and a broken soul. No one noticed for a while, especially after he announced that he would be moving home immediately after the war. Now, being forced out of the house to "socialize" by his mother, it was evident to everyone at camp that there was something wrong with their hero.

Percy spent the majority of his time in his cabin, occasionally forced out by Annabeth and Jason to participate in camp activities and to eat meals. He would sit at the table, quietly picking at his food and occasionally smiling when it was expected of him to participate. At the end of the day, Jason came to camp regardless of whether or not he and Reyna were visiting to help Percy through the night with his nightmares. Sometimes he awoke the entire camp with his bloodcurdling screams. However, there seemed to be something else that wasn't quite "normal" for the son of Poseidon.

Annabeth, Percy's ex-girlfriend and best friend, was the first to notice her friend's odd behavior. She brought it up on a Saturday, when she was having lunch with her friends and her girlfriend, a new tradition at Camp Halfblood. Relaxing into Piper's side, she looked around at her circle of friends: the Roman troupe who were visiting for the weekend including Leo, Hazel, Frank, Jason and Reyna, Will and his boyfriend Jake, and finally Nico di Angelo with his friends Alabaster and Ethan. They were an extremely odd bunch, but Saturday was the day Annabeth decided to bring up the sensitive topic of Percy.

"I think we need to talk about Percy," Annabeth started, interrupting a heated debate between Nico and Frank over which Mythomagic character had the most power.

"What about him?" Jason piped up, after effectively silencing the quarrel.

The rest of the group turned to face Annabeth, waiting for an explanation, "Has anyone noticed his odd behavior?"

"You mean that he hardly talks to us?" Alabaster said with a roll of his eyes. "We all know he can hardly socialize anymore."

"Or that he is twice as aggressive during training?" Frank muttered under his breath.

"No," Annabeth said. "I meant the scars."

Everyone in the group cast glances as each other, except for Nico, who was staring at the ground with an unreadable expression.

"He does have scars," Reyna began. "But I haven't noticed anything different."

"They're fresh," Annabeth replied. "When I go to check on him, or he meets me for lunch by the lake, his scars are reopened, or there are new lines. I've asked him about them before but he only shrugged and said he didn't want to talk about it. I think someone needs to talk to him, get him help."

Jason lifted his hands in retreat, "I already take care of the nightmares. I don't need another job."

"Well, someone has to do it," Annabeth said. "Jason and I can only do so much."

"I'll watch him," Nico muttered.

Everyone turned and stared at the Ghost King. Nico had filled out nicely in the past few years, gaining a muscular physique and a healthier olive complexion. However, the group still questioned his feelings for Percy. They still believed he wasn't over him, and Percy still believed that Nico hated him.

"Ummm…" Leo hummed nervously, "Do you really think that's a good idea, Nico? I mean… you can barely handle being in the same room with him."

Nico rolled his eyes, looking annoyed, "Just because I said I was over him does not mean I don't care about him enough make sure he's okay. Besides, I can spy on him without being noticed."

"You snoop on him?" Leo questioned curiously.

"No!" Nico replied a little too quickly. "I'm just… I can hide in the shadows. Son of Hades, remember, fireball?"

"Oh," Leo replied. "Right."

"So everyone is okay with this then?" Annabeth asked, to which everyone replied with nods affirmative gestures. "Go fix our Sea Prince then, Ghost King."

"Now?" Nico said, with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Yes, now. Before he does something dumb while Jason and I aren't around," Annabeth replied.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for reading! Reviews and comments are very much appreciated! I'm hoping to update again next Tuesday! Happy reading! :D**

Nico spent the next day following Percy around in the shadows. The day began normally enough, with Percy waking up and taking a shower before being dragged to breakfast by Jason, who slept in his cabin that night, since him and Reyna were there for the weekend. At breakfast, Percy asked where he was, to which everyone responded he was on a quest for his dad, something easily believed by the gullible son of Poseidon.

After breakfast, Chiron goaded Percy into teaching canoe lessons for a group of newer campers. Nico was quite enthralled with the way Percy treated the children. He was patient with them, loving, and Nico could see that he genuinely cared about them. It was very apparent that Percy wanted children of his own, to which Nico was surprisingly upset. He couldn't give him children, but he quickly pushed the thought out of his head because Percy wasn't interested in guys. When Percy finished with the canoe lessons and put away the canoes, Nico followed him back to his cabin.

The son of Poseidon was obviously exhausted, so Nico wasn't surprised when he collapsed on his bed and fell asleep. However, he was startled about an hour later by the sound of Percy calling out his name. Nico lifted his head to see Percy shoot up, his breathing labored and drenched in sweat. Percy grabbed his knees and pulled them to his chest and rocked back and forth. He muttered incoherent words under his breath and began to sob quietly. Nico was shocked to see Percy in such a state. He didn't realize it was this bad. After the Giant War, Nico had focused on himself, making sure that he could cope without Percy and to ensure that he himself was okay. Meanwhile, it seemed that Percy had taken a turn for the worse. It was shocking to see the usually vibrant Sea Prince curled up into a ball, looking vulnerable and pathetic.

As much as he wanted to go comfort him, Nico was sure this wasn't the right time to reveal his presence, so he sat and watched as Percy slowly pulled himself together. By the time Percy finished crying, his sea green eyes were bloodshot and puffy. The son of Poseidon slowly climbed out of bed and ran into his private bathroom, an add on he insisted upon when he moved back to camp. Nico could see him through the door, which he left wide open so he had no reason to move from his current position in the corner of the cabin, where he had a view of everything. He watched as Percy stared at himself in the mirror.

"I can sense you in here," Percy suddenly said, turning around, looking in my general direction. "I can't tell who, but I know you're there."

Nico sucked in a breath, since when could the Son of Poseidon detect invisible people?

"Humans are made of water," Percy continued. "You better show yourself before I pull you out of your hiding spot and skewer you with Riptide."

Nico stepped out of the shadows to stand in front of Percy, who he was a little taller than, thanks to his growth spurt.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Percy asked. He paused for a moment, staring at Nico with a hurt expression, "Are you following me?"

"Technically, yes," Nico replied, remaining collected.

"Why?" Percy asked, a small twinkle of curiosity filling his eyes.

Nico reached out and took Percy's wrist, ignoring the flinch and the curling of a fist. He ran his thumb over a fresh scar, and then looked questioningly up at Percy, "Because of this."

Percy snatched his arm back to his side and glared at Nico, "That's not your business, di Angelo. Why would care about me anyway? You're the one who hates me."

Nico's expression softened, "I don't hate you, Perseus. Quite the contrary, actually."

"B-But you said… A-after the Giant War…" Percy stuttered.

"I only said that to help myself move on," Nico replied, his hand reaching out to take Percy's. "Besides, just because I said that I was over you, doesn't mean I don't care about you."

Percy looked up at him, his eyes still rimmed with redness, "Why do you want to help me now?"

"Because I can see that you're clearly hurting, " Nico said. "Jason and Annabeth can't always be there for you because they have obligations to their families. I can help you though, so if you will let me… I want to try and help you."

Percy shifted uncomfortably under Nico's gaze. "Can I think about it?" the hero asked, unsure of what to say.

"You can think about it, but the answer has to be yes, Perseus," Nico replied with a playful smile. "I'll be back in an hour if you don't show up for lunch.

The corners of Percy's mouth lifted slightly as Nico exited his cabin. For the next hour, Percy wandered outside his cabin to sit by the ocean— the place he would go when he needed to think. As he sat on the beach, Percy stared at the fresh scars on his wrists, the scars that Nico had referred to earlier. Percy didn't really know where they came from. They began appearing after nightmares, which made Percy notice that whenever he had a dream where he was hurt and injured, he would wake up with scars and wounds as evidence. He did his best to hide them, he didn't want anyone worrying about him. He knew he was messed up, but he didn't think anyone could ever really fix him.

After a while, his thoughts shifted to Nico. The gorgeous, bad boy son of Hades was _concerned_ about his well being, a shocking thought to Percy. After he moved back to camp, Percy started to notice that he was attracted to Nico. He had discovered, after breaking up with Annie, that he was into boys, and even more interested in bad boys, much like the attractive Italian. Nico had really grown up, filling out his gangly figure into a more muscular form. His dark eyes could make Percy melt.

Percy sighed, shaking himself from his daydream and reminded himself that Nico didn't want him, he just wanted to help him. With that depressing thought, Percy got up and dragged himself to the dining hall, where his friends would be expecting him.


End file.
